Week 12 - Where the Pats by 3.5 is as crazy as Gary Busey

I LOVE Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Steven Adler might just be my new favorite TV character. The Busey-Adler dynamic is almost as entertaining as Haim-Feldman. Or at the very least, Barnum & Bailey.

BONEHEAD OF THE WEEK

Not wanting to disappoint, a group of Florida State football players were involved in a brawl with a fraternity this week. In the Student Union. At lunch.

Allegedly, the brawl involved a number of Seminole players coming to the aid of WR Taiwan Easterling. Reports out of FSU name African American fraternity chapter Phi Beta Sigma as being involved (let's not get into the fact that the race of the fraternity was part of the news report), which is surprising, because usually Taiwan is at odds with China . . . Right.

If Easterling is suspended this week, it would mark the 6th time this season that one or more wide receivers have missed a game because of a suspension. Well done, FSU - way to keep up that stellar reputation.

On to the picks

UPDATE: I just saw Kenickie's crack. Thanks, VH1. I wasn't sure if I could dislike Grease any more than I already did.

USC -23 Stanford

If this guy is rooting for the Spartans, I say pick em! I'll take USC giving the points.


Ucla -7 Washington

Ty Willingham expressed his frustration this week with the progress of the nation's universities in hiring minority football coaches. Not to get on a soapbox here, because I am all for equal opportunities, but Ty - you weren't fired because you're black. You were fired because you're winless. "Obviously, we've got to remake the system," Willingham said. "It's not working." No, Ty - what's not working is your offensive scheme. A -26.7 scoring margin is no way to go through life. Neither of these teams can run the ball well, and neither does a particularly good job at scoring either. However, Washington just cannot win. Maybe they'll finally break into the win collumn next week against Washington State, but UCLA isn't going to lose against this awful team, unless they run the annexation of Puerto Rico. I'll take the Bruins to cover.


Michigan -4 Northwestern

After winning five straight to start the season, Northwestern has gone 2-3 and looks worse than they really are after getting schooled by Ohio State last week, 45-10. Michigan is just plain bad. QB Steven Threet has the second lowest pass completion rate (50.8%) and the fewest yards per pass attempt in the Big Ten (5.6), Michigan's rushing game is averaging the lowest yards per game (314), and the Wolverines have the fewest number of first downs per game in the conference (16). I'm sure Rich Rodriguez is still wishing he was here rather than here. The good news? Big Blue gets a fresh start with their 2-0 basketball team. The bad news, this is a football game, and Michigan isn't covering the spread. I'll take Northwestern with the points.


Texas -12.5 Kansas

FACT: The Jayhawks have allowed 21+ points in 60% of their games this season.

FACT: Texas has lost only 10 games since 2001 when they score 20 or more points.

FACT: Though Texas QB Colt McCoy may no longer be the Heisman front runner, he still leads the country in completion percentage (78.0%).

FACT: Kansas is allowing 276.3 yards passing per game, fourth-worst in the nation.

FACT: Once Texas beats Kansas, and Oklahoma ruins Texas Tech's perfect season next week, there will be three teams with 6-1 records in the Big XII South, with Baylor (3-7), Texas A&M (4-6), and Oklahoma State (36 point loser to Texas Tech) all getting a chance to play spoiler.

This shouldn't be too tough to figure out; I like the Longhorns to cover.


UPDATE: George Washington Basketball Starts Today. If this team is anything like last year's squad - the tears will rain down like a monsoon.


Byu -5.5 Air Force

TRAP GAME ALERT

There are four 8-win teams in the Mountain West Conference, which is more than the SEC, the Big Ten, and the Big East. Two of those MWC teams are playing each other this week, and one of them, sadly, is going to the Las Vegas Bowl (Sponsored by Nick Papageorgio - no corrective lenses required!). NOTE: Is that chicken or beef on the end?

Somehow, a team with an above .750 win percentage is going to end up having to watch Kentucky (2-4 in SEC play) play in a better post-season bowl game. But enough about the glory of the BCS conferences. I think BYU might look past this game to their matchup with Utah next week. Maybe not enough to lose, but enough to give the Falcons a chance at keeping it close. I'll take Air Force with the points.


Until next week . . .